


Old Habits

by editoress



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn, Gen, Jedi family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7941307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/editoress/pseuds/editoress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dooku meditates and finds an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Habits

Dooku’s guilty habit was meditating.

The count had never been a man of the raw passion the Sith liked to draw from.  Decades of study had never tempered his pride, but otherwise he was as cool and composed as any Jedi could hope for.  His anger came from affront, and his hatred came with aloof contempt. He didn’t ignite the dark side like a fire; he commanded it.

But such command took focus and an unyielding strength of will.  To employ the dark side of the Force was too control or be consumed, and no being could endure that battle at every moment and expect to survive it long. So it was Dooku’s weakness to slip back into the Jedi habit of meditation.  For a few hours, at least, he could breathe freely and _allow_ the Force instead of grasping at it.

Dooku sat alone in his study, cross-legged and facing the curved transparisteel that overlooked the forest below his home.  The setting sun warmed the thick air.  He was enveloped in the Force, mind clear.  And as ever, he was listening to the distant currents of the universe.

_Master._

His steady breathing broke loose with a long, sharp inhale.  Dooku blinked ungracefully into the sunlight.  He had not heard that voice in over ten years, but he would have known it if it had been a hundred.

That was not possible.

The count composed himself. And then he rose, done with meditations for the day.

* * *

Dooku did not meditate again until it became clear through his wavering focus and needless snappishness that he needed to.  He ensured that he would remain alone and uninterrupted before settling in.  His brow was drawn but his thoughts faded to silence with practiced efficiency.

This time, he felt a familiar presence before he heard it—warm and serene with a curious mix of steadiness and spark that could only be one person.

_Master._

“Qui-Gon,” Dooku breathed.

_Yes._

Dooku opened his eyes and saw only an empty room.  "Impossible.“

_No.  Only difficult.  The Jedi do not know everything, and neither do the Sith._

An irrefutable truth. It was even more difficult to argue with what Dooku’s own senses were telling him.  At last, he said, "You are here.”

_I am.  When we die, we become one with the Force, but we do not necessarily lose ourselves in it._

“How did you discover this?”

A tinge of amusement rippled around him.   _By heeding the living Force._

The answer was so like his former apprentice in its surety that Dooku nearly harrumphed out of old habit. But his throat tightened around the thought of just how old that habit was.  "Why come to me now?“ he asked.

_Because the Force is stirring.  Something is coming._

"Sidious,” Dooku guessed.

_Yes.  Though he is only a part of it._

Dooku smiled a cool, private smile.  Sidious would be furious to hear that.  "I assume you have spoken with your former padawan?“

The sadness that swept over him answered before Qui-Gon’s words did. _Obi-Wan is… difficult to reach._

"I find that surprising.  The Force is strong with him.”  Dooku frowned, his usual frustrations about Obi-Wan resurfacing.  "But then, he remains blind to the corruption of the Jedi Order.“

_Obi-Wan is headstrong.  He follows only his own ideals._

"Not unlike you,” Dooku noted, smirking.

Qui-Gon laughed gently. _No, I’m afraid I rubbed off on him._

Dooku chuckled.  There was nothing but him and the Force and the impression of his padawan.  Slowly, gathering the words up from somewhere deep within that he had never reached for even in meditation, he said, “I have missed you, Qui-Gon.”

_I know, Master._

In the final days of the war, Dooku meditated more and more often.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Never Alone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8220425) by [bluedragoninamber](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedragoninamber/pseuds/bluedragoninamber)




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